Celebrating seasons: Winter solstice
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explain how some people mark the Winter Solstice and make some connections with Christmas.
Key learning points
- The Winter Solstice is the longest night of the year. It occurs in December.
- The festival is ancient. The festival of Christmas was placed at the same point to link to the themes of light.
- Many pagans will celebrate the coming of the light at the solstice with festive celebrations.
- Some pagans will gather at ancient places, such as Stonehenge, to mark the solstice.
Keywords
Winter Solstice - the shortest day of the year and the start of winter in the Northern Hemisphere
Pagan - a person who believes in gods and goddesses linked to nature
Druid - a wise person or priest who helps lead pagan ceremonies
Common misconception
No one celebrates Winter Solstice anymore.
Pagans today still celebrate Winter Solstice.
Teacher tip
Draw your classes attention to the fact that it is not only Christians that have carols as special songs that are sung in December. Search the internet for the Winter Solstice Carole and play to the class.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
4 Questions
Q1.What do Christians usually remember when they sing carols?
Q2.What do social scientists study?
Q3.When do some Christians go to church?
Q4.Are all Christmas traditions linked to the nativity?
Assessment exit quiz
5 Questions
Q1.What does the word ‘solstice’ mean?
Q2.When does the Winter Solstice happen each year?
Q3.What do people celebrate during the Winter Solstice?
Q4.Do people still celebrate the Winter Solstice today?
Q5.People use during Winter Solstice to welcome back the light.
To help you plan your 3 religious education lesson on: Celebrating seasons: Winter solstice, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 3 religious education lesson on: Celebrating seasons: Winter solstice, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 2 religious education lessons from the Festivals: How do ancient stories influence modern celebrations? unit, dive into the full primary religious education curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.